Holiday Week 2: Thursday: Dhanakosa (Trossachs)

I actually woke up feeling refreshed at 9am this morning. I still managed to faff and do emails on my phone for an hour, but I was still awake and with it :)

After a lazy breakfast I popped back up to Killin where we'd had dinner the previous night at The Falls of Dochart Inn, and went around a centre learning about the local myths, legends and actual history (Rob Roy etc). I then managed to get the key for the McNab Burial Ground which was lovely and isolated between two waterfall filled trouser-legs of river. Spent a good quiet half hour away from the hoards of tourists around the waterfalls, which reminded me of Tenby and Cambridge in the summer, with everyone taking photos of the the same thing continuously. And this morning I was actually one of them (but not for very long, honest). Hopefully I got some great water shots though ...

Back to the retreat for a pizza lunch, then abandoned the afternoon hike in favour of finishing off my book in the warm. Only to find out it's part of a trilogy. ARGH! Luckily the day was saved by the Amazon app on my phone, so the final book should be with me by Monday.

Was just about to burn off the massive veggie chilli we had for dinner by scrambling up a mountain when someone (from Cambridge!!) turned up a day early for a retreat so I'm now waiting while they get sorted out, contemplating today's big problem. Do I have a Breakaway or a Gold?

Decision made: Gold it was. And you'll never guess what? The guy who turned up to the retreat early, from Cambridge, is a mate, and lives with some other close friends of mine. Crazy small world!

Anyway, scrambling was postponed as he hadn't eaten dinner so we set off or a short walk along the side of the loch. I soon realised, however, that I had been looking forward to running up the side of a mountain. So on our way back, about 8.45pm ish, I decided that that was what I was gonna do. Leaving the others walking home, I launched myself with not-so reckless abandon up the side of the mountain.

Not wanting to get lost on the way back down in the dark, I had the awesome idea of attaching a glowstick to a random post in found sticking up in the middle of the bush I was wading through, half way up. This proved a good idea as on my way back in the dark I was able to aim towards it, and so not lose my position. I also had both my head torch (great for seeing where I was putting my feet - well, which bit of bush I was walking on anyway) and my hand torch for a bright spot beam to see where I was aiming at, so i wasn't too worried about getting lost. And also, as long as I kept walking downwards I would eventually hit the road, or if unlucky, the loch.

Anyway, it was a nice energetic scramble up and run down, leaving me ready for a hot shower before bed. Tonight is my last night at Dhanakosa, and also in Scotland, but not the end of my holiday yet. I'm considering coming back up in January and actually doing a retreat as the place is beautiful and they have some really interesting subjects. Also, by the time we get to Christmas holidays I may need a break and a mind wipe, but that's in the future. As Uguay said "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift - that's why that call it the present."

Sleep time.